WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The United States Mint launched a new coin Tuesday featuring jazz legend Duke Ellington , making him the first African-American to appear by himself on a circulating U.S. coin .

The District of Columbia coin honoring Duke Ellington was introduced Tuesday in Washington .

Ellington , the composer of classics including `` It Do n't Mean a Thing If It Ai n't Got That Swing '' appears on the `` tails '' side of the new D.C. quarter . George Washington is on the `` heads '' side , as is usual with U.S. quarters .

The coin was issued to celebrate Ellington 's birthplace , the District of Columbia .

U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy introduced the new coin at a news conference Tuesday at the Smithsonian Institution 's National Museum of American History .

Members of Ellington 's family were present at the ceremony , and the jazz band of Duke Ellington High School performed .

Ellington won the honor by a vote of D.C. residents , beating out abolitionist Frederick Douglass and astronomer Benjamin Banneker .

Also on the coin is the phrase `` Justice for all . '' The Mint rejected the first inscription choice of D.C. voters , which was `` taxation without representation , '' in protest of the district 's lack of voting representation in Congress .

Edward Kennedy `` Duke '' Ellington received 13 Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize , among numerous other honors . His orchestra 's theme song , `` Take the A Train , '' is one of the best-known compositions in jazz .

Ellington was born in the district in 1899 and composed more than 3,000 songs , including `` Satin Doll , '' `` Perdido '' and `` Do n't Get Around Much Any More . '' `` It Do n't Mean a Thing If It Ai n't Got That Swing '' helped usher in the swing era of jazz .

Ellington performed with other famous artists , including John Coltrane , Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald , and he traveled around the world with his orchestras .

He died in 1974 at the age of 75 .

The first African-American to appear on a circulating coin was York , a slave who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their `` Corps of Discovery '' adventures across America at the dawn of the 19th century . The 2003 Missouri quarter features the three men together in a canoe on the obverse .

The U.S. Mint distinguishes between circulating coins , which are intended for daily use , and commemorative ones , which mark special occasions .

African-Americans including Jackie Robinson , who broke baseball 's color barrier , have appeared on commemorative coins . Educator Booker T. Washington , botanist George Washington Carver and the first Revolutionary War casualty , Crispus Attucks , all of whom were black , have also appeared on commemorative coins , according to the U.S. Mint .

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Duke Ellington featured on reverse of new quarter honoring District of Columbia

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Coin introduced at Smithsonian 's National Museum of American History

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African-Americans have appeared on commemorative coins or as minor figures

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Ellington was born in D.C. and composed several jazz standards